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This file offers views of some of the worksheets in our “Fossils” thematic
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pages.
The “Fossils” unit offers 15 pages.
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Fossils
Fossils
Fossils are the remains of living things that were captured in soft material
thousands or even millions of years ago. The material could have been sand,
mud, volcanic ash, lava, oil, or tar.
In order for the fossil to have been preserved, it must have
been covered quickly and completely. Animals that just died in
the open were usually eaten by other animals and their bones
dissolved in about a year.
Sometimes the material hardened. Mud became sedimentary rock, and sand
became sandstone. Lava and ash became basalt and bogs became peat or coal.
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Sometimes the surrounding material never turned to a solid. Many fossils have
been found in peat bogs and asphalt pits. The most famous of these is the La Brea Tar Pits in
California.
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Read each sentence below. Fill in the missing words.
1. Fossils are the remains of ___________________ things.
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2. Many fossils have been found in _____________ bogs.
3. A famous pit where fossils have been found is called the ____________________________
in California.
4. Sometimes the surrounding material never turned to a
_________________.
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Fossils
Some notable people from the United States who helped in the early years of
paleontology were Othniel Marsh, Edward Cope, Henry Osborn, and Charles
Walcott. These men were very important in establishing the study of natural
history in the large universities. They also helped start the first museums of
natural history in the country. Most of their work was done in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries.
Paleontologists do not study history based on years, decades, or even centuries. They use
terms related to thousands and millions of years. The most common way that a paleontologists
talk about ancient time is called the geological time scale. Some of the words they use are very
confusing.
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Below are a few hints to help figure out some of the words.
The time names from largest to smallest are; eon, era, period, and epoch. There seems to be
no exact number of years related to any of these words. Each is identified by an event or
circumstances. The dictionary gives almost the same definition for
each term.
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The suffix 'zoic' means animal life. 'Meso' means middle and
'ceno' means recent. So now you can understand that Paleozoic and
Cenozoic eras mean 'ancient time of animal life' and 'recent time of
animal life'. We are living in the Cenozoic era. These eras are then
divided into periods like the Jurassic and Triassic periods.
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Read the sentence below. Fill in the blank.
1. Meso means _______________________________ .
2. zoic means _________________________________________.
3. Jurassic _____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
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Fossils
Criss Cross
Can you fit these words into the criss cross?
Use a pencil so you can erase if you need to.
!
!
fossils!
imprint!
!
dinosaur!
amber!
!
!
mold
find
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leaf! !
rocks!!
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